Associate Professor in the Department of Kinetic Imaging, Semi Ryu, will perform Virtual Interactive Puppetry “Parting on Z, London” at Antonin Artuad space, Brunel University, London, on September 8, 2010, as a part of International Conference “Digital Resources for the Humanities and Arts 2010 – Sensual Technologies.
“Parting on Z” is real-time virtual interactive puppetry that responds to the puppeteer’s voice, walking balance, and fan movements. The puppet master interacts with the virtual puppet that faces her from a distance, speaking back her story in real time mimicry and mirroring her body in swaying motions. Parting on Z explores Korean cultural psyche called “Han”: the paradoxical state of consciousness that combines the extreme emotional state of grief, but with a great hope and strong desire for overcoming the impossible situation. This live performance explores Han in the paradoxical relationship between virtual puppet and puppeteer via the distance between avatar and user—symbolic lovers facing each other, continuously exchanging dialogues of love and farewell. Semi will also present her paper “Exploring Han in Virtual Puppetry”.
The opening performance of the conference will be Stelarc’s ““Rotating Brains/Beating Heart”: a networked collaboration between performer Sterlac, the virtual reality ensemble, Avatar Orchestra Metaverse, with composer Pauline Oliveros, Martin Parker and saxophonist Franziska Schroeder.
